


Icebreaker

by ciaconnaa



Series: 12 Days of Irondad & Spideyson Christmas [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, but it's still got the holiday spirit it's wedged in there don't worry, happy is an absolute UNIT, this is not so much christmas themed as it is winter themed, yes that's a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16917744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciaconnaa/pseuds/ciaconnaa
Summary: He’s almost there, just a bit further and he can reach out -The ice cracks. Again.“Peter!” Tony yells. “Don’t move!”He tries not to, but it’s no use. The ice breaks beneath his feet and Peter plunges into the cold water.or;Peter tries to save a dog stuck in a frozen river and it doesn't really go that well.





	Icebreaker

“Awww dude, this is so _sick.”_

Peter grins at Ned in response as he finishes hauling his and May’s luggage into the cabin. Pepper and Michelle are already inside, complaining of snow in their hair, while Tony, Rhodey and Happy are still back at the cars, arguing about how the luggage was originally packed.

But Ned’s right. The cabin is _impressive._ It was Pepper’s idea that Spider-Man and Iron Man stop being superheros for a few days to enjoy the holiday season. So the boys left their suits behind and they all drove up to Vermont to spend a few days in a fully tricked out cabin of Pepper’s choice, on Tony’s credit card.

“Thanks for bringing me and MJ along,” Ned says, genuinely, as Peter leaves May’s luggage in the foyer for her to take to one of the many rooms of her choice later. “This is going to be so much fun. Did you see the wicked hill on the way up here? _Perfect_ for sledding! And the river! It’s completely frozen! You think you can walk on it?

The warmth of the inside is hitting him all at once and Peter is unable to suppress a yawn. “Maybe. We can check it out later.”

“I should have driven,” Ned sighs, as he watches Peter yawn again, this time with a stretch. “I didn’t know you were out so late on patrol last night.”

“Eh,” Peter waves him off, stepping aside when the rest of the gang files in, suitcases covered in snow. They’re still arguing. For Peter, it goes in one ear and out the other. “Wanted to get in as much saving-the-day action as I could before being stuck with _these_ bozos all week.”

“I’m not the bozo. You are.” May appears seemingly out of thin air then, laying a firm hand on her nephew’s shoulder. “He didn’t get home until _four in the morning.”_

“It was a busy night!”

She pokes his nose. “Don’t let it happen again.” But her tone implies that she’s accepted that it will, in fact, happen again.

Peter yawns once more and May clicks her tongue, gesturing to the bedrooms down the hall. “Why don’t you go take a nap? We’ll probably eat dinner in about two hours. Someone will come and wake you up.”

Honestly? A great idea. Perfect. Peter can’t think of any better use of his vacation time than to spend the first few hours of it dead to the world. “Thanks, May.”

There’s five bedrooms and Peter picks one of them with the two full beds, one for him, one for Ned. He chooses the one closest to the window. The room is stifling warm so he kicks off his shoes, his socks, and even his sweater until he’s left with nothing but a t-shirt and sweatpants before he takes a running dive into the comforter, belly first. He’s asleep only moments after he curls his arms underneath one of several fluffy pillows.

 

* * *

 

Peter wakes up to a faint _scrabbling_ noise.

He hasn’t been asleep long - there’s light still outside, the muted grey color that accompanies all cold and snowy days. The snow is falling, just barely, and it pairs nicely with the sounds of his friends and family down the hall, chatting and laughing and enjoying the vacation.

But still, somewhere far away, there’s this... _scrabbling._

Peter concentrates really hard. He tries to block out the sounds of the people, of the window occasionally knocking a branch against the side of the house, of the squirrel that is running on the roof because something is _wrong._ The scrabbling keeps going and then he hears a faint _yelp_ that sounds like….a dog?

Scrabbling. A bark. More scrabbling. Definitely a dog.

The whimper of the dog mixes with the splash of water and Peter gets dizzy with the realization.

The river. Behind the cabin.

There’s a dog stuck in the river.

Without another thought, Peter leaps out of bed. He doesn’t think to put on his socks, his shoes, or even his sweater before he bolts out of his room and to the cabin’s front door.

“Pete!” Happy calls. Peter thinks he sees a glass of wine in his hand but he can’t be sure. He’s gotta go, _right now._

“Peter, where are you going?” May shouts when Peter rips open the door and dashes out the door without giving any kind of explanation.

He runs. The scrabbling noise is getting louder, more frantic. There’s more splashing and it sounds _desperate_ and even with Peter’s super speed, he can’t run fast enough.

“Peter!” That’s Tony’s voice, somewhere way behind him. But he can’t slow down for them. There might not be time to slow down for them.

His feet are cold, toes already numb from the snow, but he keeps going. The river comes into view and right there on the other side of the shore is a dog, grey and wet and _scared,_ moments away from drowning.

Suddenly, the size of the river is daunting; he can’t be certain he’ll make it to the dog without falling in. His breath comes out like smoke, clouding his vision as he stands barefooted at the edge of the pond, wiggling his toes.

“Please don’t triple dog dare my toes, spidey powers,” Peter says to himself as he takes a tentative step onto the ice.

Miraculously, his bare feet do not stick to the ice like the kid’s tongue sticks to the ice. But holy _shit_ is it cold. Why the hell did he take his socks off? Whose dumbass idea was that?

“Don’t worry, buddy, I’m coming,” Peter says to the dog, who is still struggling to get out of the water, but looking considerably tired and in danger of giving up. That cold water is no joke. “Just hold on, I’m gonna get you out.”

The dog whimpers and Peter’s heart clenches.

He concentrates with every step he takes. Don’t slip, don’t stick, don’t crack the ice and fall in. Because that would suck. No one is here to -

“Peter!”

Peter pauses and turns his head. Tony and Michelle are the first ones that have caught up with him, and he can see the others making their way through the snow-ridden forest.

“Kid, where are your shoes? You’re not gonna do that dog any good if your feet have a Christmas Story moment.”

Funny. Peter had thought about the same scenario. He’s about to mention that very fact when he watches Tony take a step onto the ice.

It cracks.

“Stop!” Peter yells, voice loud enough to start an avalanche. He thrusts both hands out as he slides around, trying to keep his balance - but his eyes remain firm on Tony. “Stop, stop, stop!”

Luckily, Tony notices and takes a step back onto the shore. His head snaps back up to look at Peter and even from a distance, he can tell that Tony is terrified. “Don’t move,” Tony tells him, finger pointing accusingly. “Happy will catch up, we’ll...we’ll get some rope. You need rope.”

What? He doesn’t need rope. No one has time for rope. “I have super strength, I can pull the dog out,” Peter says matter-of-factly before he turns around and takes another step towards the dog. He’s almost there, just a bit further and he can reach out -

The ice cracks. Again.

“Oh, shit.”

“Peter!” Tony yells. “Don’t move!”

He tries not to, but it’s no use.

The ice breaks beneath his feet and Peter plunges into the cold water.

That time he fell into the Hudson river was cold. But this sucks on a whole other level. For one thing, there’s a stronger current. It starts to pull him down stream, but he manages to grab the jagged edge of the frozen ice top. The water burns like hell as he slams his other fist upward as fast as he can with as much strength as he can muster, considering his circumstances. The ice cracks, considerably in fact, and all it’ll take is another punch. Then he’ll have enough room to pull him and the dog up.

Too bad Peter’s kind of a shitty swimmer.

The water rushes in his ears and mixes with the sounds of the dog that’s completely fallen in with Peter at this point. He uses the hand that’s not holding on to the ice to grab the dog before he’s sucked under, but the effort causes his fingers to slip.

_This is it_ , he thinks. _I’m gonna die here. In the world's coldest river. This sucks._

He’s about to get pulled under when Tony comes out of nowhere, reaching in to grab Peter by his forearm, and _pulls._

“I gotcha, Pete, I gotcha.” He says it over and over again as he tugs and tugs. But Tony Stark without the Iron Man suit is a man with average strength, and it’s difficult for him to try and pull a teenage boy and a dog out of a frozen river. “Happy! Get over here, _now!”_

Peter sputters as the dog starts thrashing, trying to climb up over him to get out and nearly drowning him in the process. There’s the sound of more ice breaking and Peter watches as one of Tony’s legs falls in, but he’s kept from getting completely submerged by Happy’s impeccable timing. Happy hauls Tony out by the waist, and with his grip on Peter still strong, he too starts to get dragged onto un-cracked ice. The dog almost squirms out of his arm, but then Happy is on his left, tugging and helping Peter until everyone is finally out of the frigid water.

“Holy s-shit that’s cold _,”_ Peter says, teeth chattering. Happy makes sure the dog gets safely to the shore while Tony takes him, holding him so close all Peter can breathe is the scent of his cologne.

Once they’re on shore, Peter watches with mild amusement as they sit down and Tony starts shrugging off his coat to wrap around his shoulders. One hand rubs up and down his bicep in a furious attempt to warm him up, the other checks Peter’s hands and face for cuts and injuries. “You okay?”

“Wish we’d brought the s-suits now, huh?”

“Yeah, no kidding. Now quit stalling.” He sets a finger underneath Peter’s chin, tilting it upwards. “Are you _okay?”_

“I’m f-fine,” he chatters. He takes Tony’s coat off and tosses it to Happy, who’s smart enough to use it to dry the dog off. “W-we should get inside. The dog needs to get warmed up.”

“He’s not the only one,” and Tony’s eyes fall onto Peter’s bare feet. Peter can almost see him demanding Happy take off his shoes to give Peter his dry socks or something else ridiculous, but instead Tony just hugs him close before helping him up.

Peter is bombarded with different articles of clothing on the way back to the cabin. May wraps him up in her scarf, Michelle her coat, Rhodey his hat. He laughs when Ned asks if he wants his shoes because _of course_ one of them is bound to ask.

“That was really stupid, Pete.”

That’s the first thing Tony says to him once they’re back in the cabin, all dressed up in clean warm clothes with Peter wrapped tightly in a blanket. He’s listened to Tony tell May that _Peter needs hot chocolate_ and _Ted start a fire, won’t you?_ all while he sits shoulder to shoulder with Peter on the couch, one arm wrapped protectively around him.

“Yeah, I know,” Peter says simply. “But I could hear the dog from my bedroom. I didn’t have time to _explain.”_

Tony’s voice is unimpressed. “You totally did. Could have spared a few seconds to tell us what was going on. Do you know what would have happened if I didn’t grab you in time?”

Peter looks across at the other sofa, where Ned and Michelle are messing with a now warm and very happy dog. “Drowned, I guess.” Peter shrugs. “If it weren’t for _Happy_ we’d all be gonners.”

There’s a grunt from behind the couch and then a mug of hot chocolate appears in front of his face before he feels Happy ruffle his hair. “And don’t you ever forget it.”

Peter grabs the mug and tilts his head back to give Happy his best smile. “Thank you, Happy.”

“You’re welcome. But don’t make me do it again.”

“I’ll try.”

Tony sighs while Peter takes a long and loud sip of his chocolate. His exasperation is palpable, especially when he reaches over and wipes the whip cream mustache off Peter’s face, but he doesn’t say anything more. Which means Tony’s still a little scared, even if it’s all over. He’s probably playing every possible bad ending that could have happened in his head, and Peter feels bad about it.

He leans into Tony, resting his cheek on his shoulder. “I’m okay, really.”

“I know, I know,” Tony whispers. His head falls on top of Peter’s.

“What are you gonna do about the dog?” Ned asks, and the two lift their heads. “It doesn’t have a collar and FRIDAY said she wasn’t chipped.”

Peter frowns. “I can’t have dogs in my apartment. So….” His face brightens and he looks over at Tony with as much childhood wonderment as he can. “I know what I want for Christmas.”

Tony catches on quickly. “No.”

“I didn’t say anything yet.”

“I can read your thoughts. No. I’m not taking the dog.”

“Pleeeeeeease?” He leans over and rubs his head affectionately against Tony’s shoulder. “I’ll come over all the time! I’ll feed her and walk her and take her to the vet and clean up after her and and and….all of it! I’ve been really good all year, please?”

“You’ve been _terrible_ are you kidding me? Did you already forget what you _just_ did?”

“Tried to save a life, I remember. I’m such a hero. I deserve a dog.”

“No, you don’t.”

“What about a present for not drowning?”

Rhodey snorts out a laugh. May groans. And if Peter has to guess, Tony contemplates drowning himself in the river for real this time.

But he still caves with a long, suffering sigh.

“Fine. Just until I can rehome her.”

It’s like the dog understands the conversation. She jumps from Michelle and Ned’s lap and takes a running leap onto Tony’s lap, curling up and resting across both him and Peter.

This time, Pepper laughs. “I think she’s already decided on her new home.”

Peter reaches over and scratches at the dog’s ears. He looks up and sneaks a glance at Tony’s face and sees he’s not _completely_ frowning.

He might actually be _smiling._

**Author's Note:**

> it's late....early on the east coast and this fic is kinda BAD so it's getting posted at 1am aha.
> 
> I.....hate writing action. this isn't even that actiony. I don't know how frozen anything works don't @ me in the comments okay I'm a mere fic writer here for the kicks and giggles. I have no real brain.


End file.
